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Order of the Chalice
The Order of the Chalice is the premiere religious organization in the Seven Kingdoms of Eurale. It is a fundamentally monastic order, with relatively little contact with the public at large. Members of the order are typically revered for their healing powers and genuine ability to purge unwanted spirits, demons, and the undead. Monks of the order tend to be well-educated, in stark contrast to the vast majority of the Eurale populace who are neither well-educated nor even literate. Despite their learned nature, the Order of the Chalice does not have an education system for non-members, and typically do not offer tutelage to even the noble-born. They do, however, offer medical services to the general public. These are traditionally given freely, but those who are not totally impoverished are usually expected to make some kind of donation, the most common forms of offering being foodstuffs or coin, usually at least as valuable as the medicine used. The Order mainly practices herbology as a method of curing many maladies, but many of the order also have powerful magic that can be used to heal or drive off unwanted supernatural creatures. The foremost monastary of the Order is the Temple of the Osprey, located in Tabarland. Belief System The Order of the Chalice is devoted primarly to enlightenment and advancement of society. They are a mainly a human-centric organization, resulting in something of a rift between them and the Elves and Dwarves, two groups already in poor relation with humanity and its civilizations. The Order's clergical nature often puts them at odd with the naturalist beliefs of the Elves, though they often find common ground in the herbology and related studies. The Dwarves, being a strong community-based peoples, find the Order's monastic, isolationist organization to be despicable, viewing the Order as a leech on humanity as a whole. Being themselves fairly isolated from all non-Dwarves (humans included), however, they aren't inclined to act on this belief. The name of the Order is derived from an artifact that has long been in their possession. The Chalice of Life is a potent magical object that seems to radiate life-force, quickening the recovery of the sick and injured near to it, blessing any water placed inside of it, and even magnifying the magical powers of the Monks. Surprisingly, the artifact can even magnify the potency of other magic-users, such as wizards, though to a lesser degree. The precise properties of the Chalice are not known, though many accomplished scholars have studied and tested it extensively. The powers of the Chalice seem to be heavily based upon the faith of the subject; someone who does not believe in the Chalice's power does not seem to derive much, if any, benefit from its use or presence. Likewise, when placed high in a place of prominance above a city, it is said to benefit all those who dwell within the walls of that city, provided that enough of them believe in the powers of the Chalice. Strangely enough, the main philosophy of the Order seems to be of one of imbalance. They strongly favour life over death, order of chaos, light over darkness. While other organizations tend to favour balance in all things, like the naturalist Elves, the conservative Dwarves, and even the strange religion of the Ahoul, the Order of the Chalice believes that only the prominence of these perceived "good" aspects of the world will allow for the prosperity of mankind. The Order despises pestilence, decay, and filth. They are, however, quite pacifist, and rarely do any of their ranks take up arms. They do not zealously pursue perceived heretics, and do not seem to pressure the ruling classes to pass laws that favour their belief system, again, mostly due to their isolationism. Members of the Order are required to renounce material possessions, and take numerous vows of purity and celibacy before they can be inducted. Members of the Order can be either male or female, though the two groups are usually kept separate. There is a special sub-organization of female monks of the Order known as the Knights of the Bloody Rose. Organization The Order of the Chalice has a clear hierarchy, running in parallel of the feudal system of government pervasive in Eurale and the Seven Kingdoms. They are organized thusly. *Initiate: A small group of trainees within the Order. They actually have a lighter work load and fewer responsibilities than a fully-fledged Monk, and often continue their normal family life while also fulfilling their duties to the Order. Members of this group are usually adolescents or teenagers. They train and work with the Order for several years, after which their tutors and overseers speak on their behalf. Depending on their report and the ability of the Initiate, they are inducted into the Order. *Monk: The most common rank in the Order. They form the rank and file, overseeing the vast majority of the duties in the Order, including the tending of fields and livestock, ceremony, scripture, cleaning, and cooking. This group has the least contact with the outside world, with some monks spending years or decades without setting foot in any sort of town or city. Though there are many monastaries within major metropolitan areas, rarely do most of this group venture outside its walls, and few outsiders are permitted anywhere but the outermost areas of the structure. *Friar: Usually appointed by a Grand Friar, Friars are particularly devoted Monks who have performed exceptionally well, usually producing a philosphical scripture or argument of note, combined with many years of dedicated service. Friars usually head their own monastaries, though especially large monastaries might have several Friars or a Grand Friar in charge. They oversee the appointment of new initiaties, and usually decide whether such initiates ought to be inducted as fully-fledged members. *Grand Friar: Elected by their peers from among Friars of a major geographical region, the primary duty of a Grand Friar is to oversee the workings of the Order in their region and deal with any problems that may exist in the area. They usually are the ones to authorize any major operations outside the normal sphere of the Order, and are in charge of appointing new Friars to run the various monastaries under their responsibility. Each of the Seven Kingdoms has only one Grand Friar, to the exception of Tabarland (which has two: one for High Tabarland, one for Low Tabarland), Elythria (which also has two: one for Old Elythria, one for Young Elythria), and Fornax (which has none). There are eight Grand Friars altogether, one of which is also the Archfriar. *Archfriar: The supreme authority in all of the Order. The Archfriar is elected into power by the Grand Friars, and must himself be counted among them and have been so for at least ten years. The Archfriar remains Grand Friar of whatever region he was in charge of. He is the final authority for all internal matters of the Order, and has the final say in any major philosphical issue. Exceptionally heavy-handed Archfriars have, however, proven to be very unpopular within the Order, and numerous bureaucratic methods exist to siphon power away from a particularly careless or geriatric Archfriar. There is only one Archfriar. The current Archfriar is Ferdinand, Grand Friar of Cathea.